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Berkshire Pork is as close to the platonic form of what pork should be as you will find. It’s so good that I am going to show you how to make it work with a much healthier dish.

Ingredients:

Berkshire Pork Chops- (bone in)

Salt

Pepper

1 large zuchini (cut into strips)

1 yellow pepper(diced)

3 scallions chopped.

1 Dried Ancho Chili

500ML chicken stock

Olive Oil

Smoked Paprika

Fresh Parsley

Butter

The Pork Chop…I like to treat a Berkshire Chop simply. Brush on some olive oil, and then coarse sea salt and pepper. More or less what I would do with a streak. You will want the flavour of the meat on display. I grill the meat on high heat to render and crisp the capsule of fat that wraps the cut, just like a steak to medium rare. I like my pork with a little bit of pink. I know that this is not everyone’s cup of tea, so please cook it however you want it. Just remember that pork can dry out fast.

The Zucchini…Get a mixing bowl and cover the strips with olive oil, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. I am a huge fan of having some smokey flavours to pair with a pork dish. You then put the zucchini on the grill just long enough to get some nice score marks and to blister the skin. Normally about 3 minutes per side.

The Ancho Quinoa Primavera….Get a medium sized sauce pan. 250 ML of quinoa, 500ML of chicken stock and a broken up dried ancho chili. Cook on medium/high for about 15 minutes, until the quinoa start to get translucent and begin to unravel. Then add about 1/8 of a stick of butter, along with the yellow pepper and scallion for about 2 or three minutes. The quinoa should reduce to a risotto type texture. You then take the sauce pan off the heat and cover for five minutes to let the starches reconstitute.

Plating: I am a fan of putting the pork chop on top of the quinoa. This helps really integrate the spicy smokiness of the ancho flavoured quinoa and the meat. The zucchini also echos the smokiness with the smoked paprika notes. I also like some fresh parsley to just give the dish some nice fresh lift with all the salty and smoky going on.